Elevator-head.



G. J. BICKHART.

ELEVATOR HEAD.

APPLICATION FILED snrr. so, 1912.

1,107,882. Pa ented Aug. 18, 1914.

, snares ram-n; OFFICE.

GRABILI; J. BICKHART, or HILBERT, WISCONSIN.

ELEVATOR-HEAD.

To all whom it may concern :1

Be it known that I, GRABILL J. BICKHART,

a citizen. of the-United States, residing at Hilbert, in the county ofCalumet and State of WVisconsin, have invented a newiand usefulElevator--I-Iead, of which the following is a specification. i i 1 Myinvention relates to grain elevator heads in which a shaft pierces thehead and operates the elevator belt; and the objects of my invention arefirst, to make an elevator head with a shiftingjournal box for theshaft; second, to make the elevator head with shaft bearings free toslide up and down and still have a close fit to prevent the escape of.dust; third, to makea device which will prevent excessive frictionbetween the shaft and the head whenthe supports of both vary in relativepositions; fourth, to make a cheap durable and novel device and otherobjects to become apparent from the description to follow.

In the construction, and operation of grain elevators as heretofore madethe ele vators were supported on a suitable foundation, and the shaftsupports or bearings were secured to uprights of the mill building, thusthe elevators and the shafts were supported on separate foundations andat times or after considerable time the one foundation would settle morethan the other and cause considerable wear at the points where theshafts enter the elevator heads. This settling and wear is more or lessdepending on the soil beneath the foundations and the weight of the millcontents, and is oftenthe direct cause of fires, resulting from thefriction between the shaft and the elevator heads.

My inventionis designed to prevent all friction or wear between theshaft and the elevator heads and thus of course prevent fires also. P

It consists of providing each elevator head, with portions of its sidewalls, that are pierced by the shaft, vertically slidable, so that ifthe shaft and elevator head move vertically relative to one another,that portion, of the head which is made vertically slidable, will movewith the shaft, and the friction resulting from the rotation of theshaft is only very slight as it is only the weight of the parts whichare made vertically movable which bear on the-shaft.

Specification of Letters Patent.

To describe my invention so that others versed in the art to which itpertains can make and use the same I have illustrated it on the accommnying sheet of drawings forming a part of this specification in whichFigure 1, is an elevation of aseries of elevator-heads embodying myinvention; Fig. 2, is a vertical sectional view through one of:theelevator heads embodying my invention and Fig. 3, is iauhorizontalscctional view taken on line 3+3 of Fig; 2.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views.

In the drawing Fig". 1, shows three clevator heads l located between twoposts or uprights 5 forming a part of the will building not shown.ported on suitable foundations not shown.

The elevator belts are driven by a shaft 7 which pierces the elevatorheads in. the

usual way and is supported in the bearings S secured to the posts 5.IVhlle the elevators G and the posts 5 are shown close together in thedrawing, they are seldom close together in actual practice; and for thisreason it isimpractical to have the elevators and the mill buildingsupported by the same foundation. If the mill building settles more thanthe elevator heads and if the elevators settle more than the millbuilding the shaft moves upward with respect to the elevators, and theconstruction of the elevator heads to be described prevents any bindingor excessive friction between the shaft and the elevator heads at alltimes irrespective of which part settles the most.

Since all the elevator heads are duplicates and the sides of each headare duplicates, I will describe only one side which is pierced by theshaft 7 The side wall 9 of the head 4 is provided with a rectangularopening 10 into which is fitted a rectangular board 11 having a centralperforation 12 to fit snuglyabout the shaft 7. The board 11 is madesomewhat shorter than the opening 10 so that it is free to move up anddown a considerable distance within the opening.

having their upper and lower ends extending some distance beyond theends of the board 11 where they are arranged to be guided by the cleats1 f secured to the wall a y Patented Aug. 18, 19141:. Application filedSeptember 80, 1912. Seria1.No..723 ,270..

The elevators (S are sup-i opening rigidly secured to the side Wall 9 byany convenient means asnails or screws. The central part of the board 15is provided with a vertical slot 16 of sufficient width to permit thefree passage of the shaft 7. The

board 11 is of such length that it will always lap over and close theslot 16 in the board 15.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In a device ofthe class described, an elevator head provided with a vertical wallpierced by a shaftand providedwith a vertically elongated openingthrough which the shaft extends, a suitable board fitted into saidopening to have vertical play therein and provided with a perforationthrough which the shaft fits snugly, suitable straps mounted rigidly onsaid board with their ends extending beyond the ends of the board Copiesof this patent may be obtained for rigidly mounted on said board havingtheir and suitable guides on the wall of the elevator head for the endsof said straps to slide in.

2. In a device of the class described, an elevator head provided with avertical wall pierced by a shaft and provided with a vertically,elongated opening, a board fitted into said opening lying in the samevertical plane with the wall ofthe elevator head arranged to havevertical play therein and provided with a central perforation throughwhich the shaft fits snugly, suitable straps ends extending beyond the,ends of the board, suitable guides on the wall of the elevatorhead toguide the straps and board in their movements, vertically and means forconstantly closing the opening through the wall of the elevator headabove and below said movable board.

In testimony whereof I have signedmy name to this specification inpresence of two subscribing witnesses this 23rd day of August 1912 atHilberhWVisconsin.

GBABILL J. BICIQIIART.

Witnesses:

JOHN J. MADLER, Com LUELOFF.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington,D. C. t

